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Thanksgiving: everyone’s favorite holiday. Just the right length, all the food we can hold, and time to relax before that other holiday season begins. So, let’s pretend we are children again and answer the age-old question: What were you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Was it something special, or the usual health, family, “good food, good meat, good Lord, let’s eat”?

There is something about U. S. Rep. John Barrow that drives normally even-tempered politicians into a frenzy.

Ever since he upset Republican incumbent Max Burns in 2004 for the 12th District seat, the state’s GOP establishment has made it a priority to drive Barrow out of Congress.

They are still trying.

In 2005, after taking control of the General Assembly, Republicans redrew the 12th District boundary lines to remove Clarke County, where Barrow was raised and served for 14 years on the county commission.

It’s that time of year when we’ll eat to excess, take naps to sleep it off, and then get up in time for a Black Friday shopping marathon.

As you head to the Christmas sales, remember that not everyone is quite so fortunate. With that in mind, we’d like to encourage setting aside spare change, or more, to support organizations to help the needy among us this holiday season. Here are a couple of Columbia County organizations that do an especially good job in that regard:

Jim, my Vietnam War Veteran husband, and I spent Veteran’s Day weekend on a trip to Washington, D.C. with a busload of other Vietnam vets and their supporters as guests of the Vets To Washington Project. This project became the passion of Project Director Doug Hastings to help World War II veterans visit the war memorials. He set up the first trip in 2004 to fulfill a vet’s dream, and he continues the trips with the financial backing of donors and support personnel.

Betty Kent suggested that I write something about Thanksgiving because we seem to forget the holiday and all our blessings.

“We’ve got a lot to be thankful for in Columbia County,” she said. “We’ve got a good place to live, and we’ve been spared from all these bad storms.”

To me, that’s one of the best things about Thanksgiving: It reminds us to take stock of what’s good in our lives. It does seem a little sad, though, that we are quick to complain about virtually everything, yet it takes a holiday to force us to express the slightest amount of gratitude.

It’s Thanksgiving time again. What a great holiday. Why is it, then, this day has almost been forgotten by the advertising world?

Apparently, the holiday season starts the first of October by printing ads for Halloween. Then towards the end of the month, Christmas commercials are being shown. Notice anything missing?

That’s right. The third Thursday in November, the day we’re supposed to give thanks for all the good things in our life, the day that immediately hits your taste buds with promises that once a year you can stuff yourself with as much as your stomach can hold.

Remember the battle in Florida following the 2000 presidential election? Both parties spent millions of dollars to save our democracy and protect voters’ rights, they said. This year, in advance of the elections, both parties had lawyers poised in many of the states to again save our democracy and protect voters’ rights. In some cases lawsuits were filed in the name of voters’ rights in advance of election day.

They don’t ask for sympathy, but they certainly deserve it. Once a year, Columbia County’s school superintendent and members of the board of education line up on stage at Augusta’s James Brown Arena, shaking the hand of every new high school graduate.